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Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) celebrates what he thought was a touchdown during the fourth quarter of an NFL playoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday, January 5, 2019 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Cowboys scored the next play and won 24-22. (Ashley Landis/The Dallas Morning News)(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)

Breer: "I don't think it affects him much because I really believe that the number on Dak was always going to be around $30 (million dollars) and the reason why is because (Kirk) Cousins is sitting there at $28 (million dollars) and he got a fully guaranteed deal. So at the very least, if you're a guy like a Dak or a guy like (Jared) Goff, you probably look at and you say, 'I at least have to beat that.' I think he was going to be in the $30 (million dollar) range regardless. The structure and the guarantees are all going to be important, of course.

"I think Wentz was in a little bit of a different category just because he was an MVP candidate a year ago and the Eagles have traditionally done these deals early. I think how Wentz could have affected Dak and Goff is if somehow he were to beat Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger and Russell Wilson out. That didn't happen, so I think it's kind of status quo with the rest of the quarterbacks."

Is Prescott the right quarterback for the Cowboys to spend their money on?

Breer: "Is Dak Prescott a top five quarterback in the league right now? No. Has Dak shown that he can load a team on his back and carry it? No. But he has shown that he's good enough if everything is right around him to win and I still think that's better than the alternative. The alternative being, of course, that you're out in the wilderness looking for one again.

" ... It's a very difficult spot to be in (not having a reliable quarterback), especially when you're a team that expects to be competing, because that means you're not going to be drafting very high. I understand the argument for trying to maintain the advantage of having a quarterback at a cheap rate. It's just the reality in the NFL. You can have that for a little while, but eventually the expiration date's going to come."

On the Cowboys' decision not to sign big free agents:

Breer: "If you go out and you sign an Earl Thomas, look what he got in Baltimore. He got $14 million a year. Not only does that make it tougher to sign everyone else, but then if you're Amari Cooper, if you're Zeke Elliott, you're going to look at that and say, 'I'm not taking a dime less than that, because that guy is coming in from the outside. I already have equity in this building. I'm not taking a dime less than you paid a guy to come in from the outside and fill a role here.'"

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On the Cowboys having to figure out how to give new contracts to multiple players:

Breer: "This is a good problem to have. It means you've been drafting and developing good players on your roster and, yes, now you have to reward them, but that's sort of where you want to be. You've had this advantage for a little while, of having these guys at an affordable rate, but the good thing is you knew this day was coming, because you knew you had good players on your roster. So you've at least been able to plan a little bit."